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Carden makes her mark in new NBC comedy

On The Good Place, a wildly offbeat comedy coming to NBC this fall, Kristen Bell stars as a woman sent to a heaven-like afterlife even though she really doesn't belong there. Ted Danson is the administrator who welcomes her.

Sharing the screen with the two big stars is comic actor D'Arcy Carden, who plays Janet, one of Bell's new neighbors. And so we had to ask: What would constitute Carden's idea of heaven?

"I think there would be a room where you would have unlimited access to doughnuts and steaks," she says. "The steaks would be cooked at a perfect medium-rare and never fill you up. And my family would all be there with me because we would have died at the same time. ... And I would have front-row seats to a Beyoncé concert every night."

It sounds awesome, but heaven can wait because Carden is having too much fun right here on Earth. After years of doing improv and sketch comedy with the Upright Citizens Brigade, and landing guest roles on shows like Broad City, Inside Amy Schumer and Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, Carden is a regular cast member on a major network show for the first time.

But that's not all. Carden also appears in Other People, a feature film starring Molly Shannon that won raves at Sundance. And she can be seen in HBO's Barry, a comedy written by and starring Bill Hader; it debuts early next year.

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"It seems like everything is happening all at once," she says. "It's crazy, but it sure doesn't feel like 'overnight success.' ... I feel like I'm very ready for this."

Carden knew early in life that she wanted to be a performer. She recalls being 9 years old and watching her father, Dennis Erokan, act in a production of Our Town at the Church of the Resurrection in Pleasant Hill, Calif.

"I sat there thinking, 'Oh, wow, I've got to get up there on that stage!'" she says.

After leaving San Ramon Valley High School, Carden majored in theater at Southern Oregon University in Ashland. From there, it was on to New York City, where she eventually hooked up with the Upright Citizens Brigade.

"I started to realize that comedy is what I really wanted to do, but I didn't want to do stand-up," she says. "I always dreamed about getting on TV and being part of a team -- a funny ensemble."

And that's exactly where Carden finds herself. The Good Place finished shooting its initial 13-episode order two weeks ago. Now she's anxiously waiting for America to see it.

"It's kind of surreal," she says. "I've been huge fans of Ted and Kristen for years, and now I get to work with them. And we're all just super-super excited about this show."

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